by CY Jones
I shut up because Hunter isn’t speaking. He’s just looking at me like I’ve grown two heads, and yeah, I guess what I just told him was a mouthful.
Finally he shouts, “You’ve got to be shitting me,” loud enough to make me flinch. “You mean to tell me, all the fucked up shit you did, you don’t even remember it? All the people you killed. A whole pack slaughtered, and you just drink something, and presto, you don’t remember?” he growls.
Now since my eyes are open I can see his wolf surfacing as Hunter’s eyes start to glow, and he’s pissed.
“Hunter,” Cody warns.
“Fuck no,” Hunter spits out. “She doesn’t get an out. She needs to own up to her past. How do we even know she’s telling the truth?” he questions, his hate filled gaze boring into me.
His words hurt. This is exactly as I feared. Cody was wrong, or at least I hope for Hunter’s sake he’s wrong. I can’t be Hunter’s soulmate, because he’s clearly not going to get over my past, and I can't say I blame him.
“I know she’s telling the truth because I was with her,” Cody says. “I dream walked with her last night. O’Donnell’s been giving her forget-me-not tea for fuck knows how many years. You know the type of damage that shite can do with prolonged exposure. Somehow her brother found out about it and about O’Donnell not really being their father, and cooked up some elaborate plot to get her away. She didn’t remember shite to do with supernaturals, or why she was killing them. She didn’t even remember you. She could have killed you, but she didn’t. O’Donnell’s the monster here, not her.”
“So what now? We just fuck and create bonds,” Hunter yells, looking pointedly at the markings on my arm and neck. “And what, everything is supposed to be hunky fucking dory?”
“I don’t know,” I shout, interrupting his rant. “I know I have a lot to atone for. I’m sorry, ok? I’m sorry about your family, I’m sorry I wasn’t strong enough to resist or learn the truth sooner, I’m sorry for ever being fucking born! I’m just---sorry.”
A lone tear rolls down my cheek to my own mortification, and I leave them both in the kitchen as I run upstairs. Instead of going to my room though, I go to my brother’s, fling myself onto his bed, and do something I haven’t done in years. I cry.
Eighteen
Don’t get your panties in a wad. I’m sure she’ll get over it
Hunter
“I swear to the Gods I’m going to murder you,” Cody yells as soon as Remy is gone.
He looks pissed. All traces of my carefree summer Fae friend gone.
“I spent all morning convincing her that her past didn’t matter, that we would love her regardless, and what did you do? The first chance you got, you act like an ass and turn my words to shite, making a liar out of me,” he growls, and I see sparks of flame dance between his finger tips.
Shit, he’s really mad.
“Fae can’t lie,” I say, taking a step back to avoid his spark happy hands. He looks angry enough to set me on fire.
“Well, she doesn’t know that, now does she, dipshite?” he snaps.
“So we’re name calling now,” I mock, trying to lighten the mood. When I see it’s not working, I sigh.
“Don’t get your panties in a wad. I’m sure she’ll get over it soon. Besides it sounded like you two were doing more than talking and making reassurances this morning,” I tell him, a little bitter, or maybe I was jealous. I’m not ready to admit my feelings for Remy, and a selfish part of me doesn’t want him to either.
“Is that what all this is about?” he scoffs. “Are you jealous? I’m sure if you calm down the arsehole, you could mate with her too.”
The flames in his hand extinguish, and I let out a sigh of relief. For a minute there I thought he would actually torch me.
“I’m not jealous,” I lie.
“Yeah, mate,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Keep telling yourself that. To bad wolves can lie.”
“Whatever, dude. Don't make her any reassurances on my behalf. I don’t plan on mating with her, ever. After I kill O’Donnell and avenge my people, I plan on getting as far away from her as possible. You two can run off in the sunset if you want.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth I want to take them back. My wolf is already pissed at me for hurting our mate, and what I just said isn’t making things any better with the two of us. He knew when we caught Remy killing Emily that she was our mate.
“Duly noted. Let's get to it so you can hurry up and leave. We wouldn’t want my presence tainting or corrupting you any more than it already has,” Remy snaps from behind us.
We both whirl around, and I glance at Remy’s beautiful face. Her eyes are ringed red from crying, but she has a determined look on her face, making them glow. I’ve hurt her, but she’s not going to let it show. She’s strong and refuses to show what she perceives as weakness.
“I’ve found something in my brother’s room,” she says, walking back up the stairs, not caring if we follow her or not. We trail after her in silence. As far as Cody’s concerned, our conversation is over. I’m an ass. I know it, but it's too late to take back now, so I’ll stay the course for my family’s sake.
Remy
“Do you recognize that?” I ask Cody, pointing at the lamp on my brother’s dresser.
It takes a second for it to click, but when it does, Cody smiles widely.
“What?” Hunter, the arse, grumbles from the doorway. “It’s just a lamp.”
It takes every ounce of control I possess not to look at him. His declaration that I overheard hurt more than I want to admit, and I feel a sharp pain in my heart. It’s like he’s taken one of my daggers and stabbed me straight in the chest. Although that crazy pull I feel towards him has not wavered. If anything it’s stronger, like it knows we’re broken and wants to fix it.
“Not quite,” I counter, pulling myself from the bubble of pain. There are much more important matters to focus on right now.
“Out of all the things my brother could have brought over from O’Donnell’s mansion, he brought this. The same lamp he broke in my dream, memory, or whatever that was.”
“Did you find anything?” Cody asks, excitedly rubbing his hands together.
“No, that’s why I’m going to try this,” I say as I pick the lamp up off the dresser.
“Try what?” Hunter asks, right before I throw the lamp on the floor, and it shatters into tiny pieces. A piece of paper lays within the shattered shards, and I pluck it up from the floor. Two letters are written on it in my brother’s neat script. LA.
Silas did say my brother was somewhere near the coast.
“Call the pilot and make sure the jet is fueled and ready to go within the hour.” I order as I ball up the tiny slip of paper and swallow it. Turning to Cody, I shrug my shoulders at his questioning look.
“You can never be too careful. Pack your shite, boys. We have a plane to California to catch,” I say, turning away from Hunter, the arse and leaving them to their own devices so I can gather my own shit.
This trip in the jet is a whole different ordeal compared to our previous flight. For starters, when Hunter boards the plane he takes a seat in one of the lounging areas as far away from me as he can get. About an hour into the flight he informs Cody that he’s going to one of the staterooms to lie down. Apparently, the arsehole was on guard all last night and didn’t get a chance to sleep after we came back from the club.
When he shuts himself in his room the ache in my chest hammers with another strike of grief. His distance feels more like someone close to me died. I used to think my brother owned half of my heart, but now I know he has only part of it, and Hunter, Cody, Maddie, and Silas had the rest. The only people in this world I will ever love.
Cody tries his best to distract me, but even his giddy, carefree nature can’t cheer me up. Finally, he gives up and lets me sulk. Taking a page out of Hunter’s playbook, I depart to the other bedroom and drift off to a restless sleep.
I wake to a warm body p
ressed tightly next to me, and a heavy arm around my waist. When I turn towards the warmth, Cody’s sleeping face nearly takes my breath away. He is truly beautiful. His light blonde hair looks kissed by the sun. His beautiful blue eyes remind me of the ocean, with so many different facets of multiple shades of blue that they make up their own unique color, and they’re always so damn expressive. His golden tan skin is perfect without a blemish in sight. His small, pert nose, high cheekbones, and rosey lips, everything was flawless. No plastic surgeon could ever hope to replicate those features. What could a man that looks like him ever see in me? I probably should have guessed he was something else, because he’s just too beautiful to be human.
“What is going on in that beautiful head of yours?” Cody asks, startling me.
I didn’t even realise he was awake, and now he’s caught me staring at him like a total creeper.
He sits up on the bed next to me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. You were deep in thought, and you get the cutest crease in your forehead when you’re thinking.”
“I was wondering how I ever thought you were human. You are so damn pretty,” I tell him honestly.
He grin stretches even wider, showing off his dimple, and I turn away before becoming mesmerized by it. “None of that,” he orders, straddling my body and turning my face to look at him again. “Don’t ever hide from me, beautiful.” Sweeping my hair out my face, he lowers his forehead to mine. “What’s really going on?”
Huffing, I say, “I don’t understand what you see in me. Sure, I know I’m pretty, but I’m no beauty, not like you.”
Honestly, I have no clue how others see me. I’ve only ever been around assassins like myself. I didn’t have time to date, nor was I vain enough to stare at myself in the mirror. My usual routine involved a quick shower, a matching set of black clothing, and I was ready to go. I don’t do makeup or any of that other unnecessary beauty queen crap.
“Now that’s where you’re wrong,” he says, sitting up and adjusting his weight on me. “You are beautiful. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. I can’t even put into words what the sight of you does to me. Nothing and no one else compares. You possess the kind of beauty that men go to war for,” he murmurs, shocking the hell out of me.
“I think you may be biased,” I tell him, not ready to believe him.
“Don’t do that. You’re not that girl,” he chides with a frown.
“What kind of girl is that?” I question.
“The kind of girl that doubts herself. You’re no Bella Swan, more like a Helen of Troy,” he explains.
I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips. “You read Twilight?” I gasp, laughing harder.
“Yes, and vampires don’t sparkle,” he admits, laughing along with me.
Once I recover from my laughing fit, I wipe the tears falling from my eyes. I needed a good laugh with everything going on, and my light hearted fae always delivers.
“I don’t know what brought all this self doubt on, but never doubt me or what I feel for you, vixen. I love you,” he declares while gripping my chin and gazing deep into my eyes. “I will always love you, no matter what you do. Do you understand?”
All traces of carefree Cody are gone, and the serious mannerisms of a Summer Prince stare back at me.
“Yes,” I whisper, and he rewards me with a kiss so passionate, I worry the bed might catch fire.
“I’m not going to ask what else you were thinking, because I already know. Hunter has nothing to do with me, so never again group his feelings along with mine,” he utters when he releases me. After that he spends the next two hours showing me with his body just how much he loves me.
“You know, you have a great ass,” Cody comments as his fingers fly across the keyboard. After our sexapades he decided to pull his laptop out and work on my brother’s code, and I was playing chicken by staying in the room with him so I could avoid Hunter. “I love the way it jiggles when you ride my dick and when I take you from behind.”
“What?” I ask, laughing as I glance over at him.
He looks so serious as he works, like the hot nerd he is, but the lewd content spewing from his mouth is a total contradiction.
“Your arse,” he repeats. “I think I’m addicted to it.” His gaze slowly travels down my body, and when he gets to my arse, his eyes light like blue fire.
“Down boy,” I tell him, trying to calm my own hormones. The heated look he gives me sets my own body alight, pushing the limits of my restraint to the very edge. I feel a pool of wetness gather between my legs, and I squeeze them together. What is it with this bond that makes me feel so damn ready and available? They should bottle it up and sell it in a sex shop. Call it essance of bond or some shite around those lines. Moving his laptop over to the nightstand next to the bed, he crawls over to my side of the bed.
“Next time we’re alone, I’m going to fuck that tight ass of yours,” he whispers in my ear, biting my lobe while he moves his hand to knead my breast.
With great reluctance I admit, “As tempting as that sounds, I need a break. I think you broke me.”
“All the more reason to try something new,” he retorts, moving his hand to my ass, circling my hole with his thumb.
I moan louder, which only encourages him, and he flips me over positioning me on my elbows and knees with my arse sticking up in the air. Grinning he spits near my hole to lubricate it and slowly pushes his thumb in to his knuckle. It’s uncomfortable at first, but it gradually morphs into a pleasant feeling, and soon I start to want more. As he moves and positions himself behind me, he reaches around to thumb my pussy with his other hand, distracting me as he adds another finger and scissors them inside my arsehole.
When his groan turns into a growl, I start to wonder which one of us is the wolf again.
“Your arse is so tight,” he mumbles as he thrusts his fingers farther inside my channel until they bottom out. I couldn’t put a halt to the noises coming from my mouth if I wanted to. I’m imprisoned in sensory overload. He’s the maestro musician playing my pussy like a finely tuned instrument, and his fingers in my arse was the encore. When he adds a third finger it sends me over the edge, and I cum shouting his name into the mattress.
Removing his hand from my pussy, he palms his shaft using my juices as lubricant, and he moves his hand up and down his monster length. Using the same momentum, he continues to fuck my arse with his fingers, proving men can indeed multitask if motivated enough.
I rock back and forth taking his fingers in deeper, and he growls his approval.
“My dirty little vixen likes getting her arse fucked, doesn’t she?” he teases, turning me on further with his filthy words. I cum again and this time he cums with me, covering my back and arse with his seed.
“Next time it’ll be my dick and not my fingers,” he warns, pulling my limp body from the bed.
“Come on, vixen, let's take a shower,” he says, kissing me as he carries me to the bathroom.
We don’t leave the room until it's time to land. I’m certain Hunter knows what we’ve been up to, but for once, he keeps his trap closed. Instead he focuses on giving us both dirty looks anytime he deems to look our way.
“So what’s the plan this time?” Hunter snides voice breaks the awkward silence as he crosses his hands over his muscled chest. “Where are we going?”
Despite being sexed up by Cody, I still can’t take my eyes off Hunter. If anything, he looks even sexier than before, and I want him badly. Maybe I could gag him while he fucks me. It’s only his mouth I’m having issues with right now, not his dick.
“Stupid sex crazed bond,” I mumble to myself.
“Well,” Hunter drawls and raises his brow, dragging my attention back to his face.
Truth is, I have no plan. This is partially due to the fact that I have no clue where in LA to find Row. The lack of information doesn’t really narrow down our options.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Let’s just get a hotel here
, at least until we figure out a plan.”.
“What? No cloak and daggers this time?” Hunter taunts.
Cody gives Hunter a nasty glare before telling him to “stop being an arse.” I wish him luck with that. Arsehole tendencies seem to run deep in Hunter.
“I’m not hiding,” I say through gritted teeth. “If The Circus is dumb enough to come at me, then let them come. I will accept the challenge gleefully before sending them running.”
I’m feared for a reason. It’s best this lot start remembering that. Shouldering past Hunter, I grab my bag and put a stopper on my feelings towards the angry wolf. The bond pulls at me, causing me pain, but I ignore it. If Hunter can fight this bond, then so can I.
Nineteen
Magical lojack
Remy
It’s a bright, cloudless day outside, which I’m told is typical here in southern California. This is my first time here I’ve never been here before, so I will have to take Cody’s word for it. As soon as we step off the jet, a beautiful sight awaits us on the runway. Silas in all his glory stands out in the bright sun, and just like last time he takes my breath away. Now that we’re not hidden in the night’s shadows, I can take in every delectable detail I missed before.
He’s tall, way over 6 feet. His thick hair begs me to run my hands through the lush caramel locks bathed in golden highlights. It is shaved at the sides and long at the top in a floppy boyband style. His heterochromia eyes shine in the sun, framed by the thickest lashes I have ever seen on a male. Just like Cody, he too has high cheekbones, and one of the cutest pert noses I have ever seen. His wears a small stud pierced through his nostril, adding to his bad boy appearance. His lips are full, and his body appears sturdy, packed with muscles like he lives and breathes the gym. The small golden hoop in his ear gleams in the sun, and in his other ear was a nickel size keloid that only added to his hotness.